A. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a method and an apparatus for applying a decoration onto an object.
The said object to be decorated may, for example, be made from a plastics material, a derived timber product, or a metal. Such objects very often need to be decorated, where the term “decoration” includes, in particular, the application of a colour layer. Such a colour decoration may be a homogeneous single colour decoration and/or a decoration comprising a picture or an ornamental pattern. In a variety of instances, e.g. in automotive industries, furniture industries, electrical appliance manufacture etc., there can be a need to apply a decoration onto an object. In the following, the present invention is described and explained in connection with decorating a housing of a mobile telephone, such housings typically being made from a plastics material.
B. Description of Related Art
It is known in the prior art to decorate objects by means of a foil that carries a sublimable dye and floats on a liquid. As used herein, the term “foil” does not necessarily imply a thin layer of metal material, but may be used to refer to a thin layer of any material, particularly plastics. The object to be decorated is pressed against the foil for decoration transfer (see, for example, EP 0 922 588 A2 and EP 0 993 874 A1 and EP 1 000 731 A1). It is also known in the prior art to use carrier films comprising so-called “release”-properties in order to transfer a decoration layer onto an object. A varnish protecting the decoration layer can be hardened by radiation or an electron beam (see, for example, EP 0 993 968 A1). The prior art also teaches the use of pressurized air flow in order to enhance the contact between a carrier film comprising a colour layer and an object to be decorated (see EP 0 993 876 A1).